Disagreement with cause of death on Mom's death certificate. What should I do?

I was kind of surprised at how informal the recording of a "natural" death was. My husband died at our home. He was receiving Hospice care. We were alone when he died. Hospice had coached me to jot down the time of death, then to spend as much time as I needed before calling them who would in term call the mortuary. I did jot the time down, but I can well imagine that sometimes people forget and get confused. The death certificate shows the time I reported and shows "Lewy Body Dementia" as the cause of death. Several months later I got autopsy results and a more specific cause of death and also the conclusion that it was surprising he hadn't already died of hardening of the arteries.

It doesn't seem really important to know the exact time of death (except in murder cases). Even the exact cause of death when it has been expected does not seem important. I don't know what purpose would be served by having my husband's death certificate changed to give the exact medical cause of death.

While these things seem intensely important to you now, the death certificate is just a piece of paper.

If it really makes a difference -- if inheritance would change depending on who died first of two people who died a few hours apart -- then, yes, it might be worth pursuing. But in the ordinary run of human affairs, this is not as important as I had previously thought.

Please accept my condolences on the death of your dear mother.

I'm sorry for your loss.

If it would make you rest easier to ask some questions then do so. However, a death certificate is a legal document and it will take a lot of time and maybe legal assistance to have it changed. After all that you've been through with your mom do you really want to drag this out?

My dad died a year ago. The weeks and days leading up to his death were stressful and heartbreaking. He was on hospice and I wasn't there when he died. If his death certificate said he died of uterine cancer I would have left it alone. I was too wrung out to draw things out any further. He was gone and there was other business to attend to.

But follow your heart. If you find that you can't let it go then you have to do what you have to do but since she's been gone and her body is gone I'm not sure how you'll ever be able to determine if the death certificate is inaccurate. Nursing charts are legal documents as well. I think you'd have an uphill battle on this one.

I'm sorry for your loss. My brother was an attorney, and he told me a long time ago that most death certificates are wrong in that they simply state cardiac arrest or something similar without the conditions that caused the heart stop beating (multiple organ failure secondary to cancer, etc.) Everyone dies of cardiac arrest. Our hearts stop beating and we die.

In your case, the cause of death was a heart attack, secondary to whatever put your Mom in hospice. It wasn't the seizure - the seizure was a part of her dying process. Again, so sorry for your loss.

I'm sorry for your loss. Was there an autopsy? Probably not, since her death wasn't unattended and she was terminally ill. You say she never recovered from the seizure, what do you mean by that? The seizure could have contributed to her death, and a heart attack could be the immediate cause of death. If the death certificate doesn't list any contributing causes, then none were found.
Why do you think there was a cover-up? Do you mean that the nursing staff were negligent in not reporting the seizure to her doctor? And how are you sure they didn't report it?
I know it seems unfair that your mom is gone. Even though you knew she was terminally ill, you were probably hoping for more time with her. Looking for someone to blame won't help you, but if it makes you feel better, you can talk to the doctor who signed the death certificate.

Cover up, no. A dying person may tremble or seize as the body is shutting down, suffer arrhythmia and display muscle contractions and strange vocalizations. This is not unusual, and very difficult to observe. This is why Hospice uses Morphine and Haldol, to ease the pain. If the patient is kept comfortable, the family nearby is less likely to become hysterical.

Watch NBC Nightly News tonight on the underreporting of Alzheimer's deaths on death certificates. The immediate cause is what is normally listed. Pushing for more information on death certificates in order to increase research funding for Alzheimer's.

WE are not on this Earth forever...I hope she didn't suffer, that is what I worry most about my mother's last breath, and of course my family and mine. I think there is a protection factor when your body can't handle too much.. I hope you find peace. Your mother is at peace now. HOspice is there to keep her comfortable. They are wonderful people, and they help my mother. Find peace..Do you want to spend more energy to find a coverup? Talk wit the doctor who signed the cert. ask him if he thinks it's worth it.

I'm so sorry for your loss; it must have been so upsetting for you, but there's also comfort in sharing your mother's last moments together. I'm glad for you that you had that opportunity for a final goodbye.

The time of death could have just been a mistake; if it really concerns you, contact the doctor and explain that you were there when she died and the time is incorrect. He/she may have just picked it up from the hospice records.

As to a "cover-up", I'm not sure what the purpose would be, or what issues would be covered up. But it seems you feel the seizure might have been the cause, and perhaps left untreated? You know your mother's conditions better than we, so you might want to consider that the seizure did cause the heart attack.

I'm not a medical person, so I'm only suggesting that there might be a correlation.

I do wonder though what would be the purpose of a cover-up; you write that your mother was already in a terminal condition. Your concern is understandable, especially since your mother's death was so recent.

But you might want to ask yourself what the purpose would be in pursuing a course of action beyond clarification of the time of death. What would you hope to gain beyond a corrected death certificate? Do you feel there was some misdeed, error or other issue that needs to be addressed?

You can always order a copy of the hospice records, assuming you have the legal authority to do so. Perhaps that might set your mind at ease, especially as to the administration of the anti-seizure meds.

I am sorry for your loss. What makes you think she did not die of a heart attack? You were with her when she passed, so what happened to make you think that a heart attack may not have accompanied whatever you witnessed? Seizures frequently affect the heart rate and rhythm, which could easily lead to a heart attack. Did no one do anything while you were there?

I only ask because I watched my grandmother have a brain seizure, and while she lived a little while after, her heart gave out within an hour and a half. The seizure caused the heart attack.

I don't think it's a coverup..just Hospice not getting there to call Time of Death..thus when Hospice gets there..that's the time they put on the death certificate.

Been there as my dad's is almost an hour and a half after he passed away. It was at 12:36 am on Friday morning the 28th of July. His death certificate says it was at 1:50..when the Hospice nurse called it, and since he was in Hospice care..nursing staff that was right there at the time couldn't call it.

Ridiculous!!